It's been a couple months since we started smuggling people from my hometown to our tomb. There were various reasons why they went with us. Some were in disbelief that monsters could be living this close by and they just had to see it for themselves. Others were sick of working and close to being tossed aside. Some were old, others broken from labor. But the overarching reason for choosing this life over their own was the suffering under King Tutem and the spirit to resist him and show him that they still have value.
As such, many of those who became the new inhabitants of Cassiopeia's kingdom were more than eager to earn their keep, restore their vitality by becoming immortal and/or letting themselves be turned into monsters and incubi. Faster than anyone could've even imagined possible, the tomb was returned to old glory. The halls were cleaner and livelier than ever before. Markets emerged with people trading undercover with other kingdoms to supply us with food, living spaces had been built for families, couples and singles alike. Through excavations, the tomb grew and grew, expanding until every need one could have was satisfied.
But even with all of this positive change and my strong desire to help Cassiopeia to achieve even more greatness, there were still some new arrivals to come. And they were the ones I've been dreading the most.
"I'm nervous." I admitted to Karima and Fatima as we stood in the entry hall. My fists were clenching and unclenching nervously and my pulse must've been through the roof.
"We can still call it off. We'll make them forget and send them back. We could send people to keep supplying them anonymously." Fatima suggested, holding onto my right arm.
"I can't. Not anymore. They deserve to know where I've been and what I've been up to. I'd be a disgrace of a son if I didn't."
Karima latched onto my other arm and cheerily smiled at me. "I'm sure they'll forgive you. Look at what you helped us build here? How could they not be proud?"
I sighed and flinched as I appreciatively rubbed their arms. "Still, I stole from people, I haven't talked to them in months and I''ve been keeping all of this secret from them while they didn't even know if I was still alive. I think I'm..."
"I think you're going to be just fine." Fatima snuggled up to me and squeezed my arm. I looked at her, receiving a comforting grin. "What's the worst that could happen?"
I smiled back, rubbing their heads as they leaned into my shoulders. "Shit, how did I deserve you two? I love you guys. Really, I do."
As we embraced there in the middle of a busy room, there they arrived, coming down the stairwell into the underground. Fatima and Karima cautiously took a few steps back. They knew I needed to face this alone. "Well... here goes nothing."
It was time. There was no backing out. In front of me were the people who raised me. Looking at them, I almost forgot how long it's been since I've last seen them. They looked so weak, their bodies broken and labored. My father walked with a limp, having only a walking stick to aid his weakened knees and mother, mother looked like a withered flower. The beauty she once had, had been beaten out of her with sadness and malnourishment.
You'd think all will to live and all sense of humanity would've left them. And yet, as they came down the steps, this was the conversation they were in the middle of. "I told them! A secret underground society of monsters! I warned them and they called me crazy. YOU called me crazy, Temya, crazy you called me!"
Mom rolled her eyes in response. "You've been rubbing it in since we left town, Mahid! Would you quiet down already? You're embarrassing us in front of our kind... hosts..." Her words drifted into silence as she laid eyes on me. Dad shortly followed suit as he no longer could utter a word.
I weakly reached out to them with a hesitant wave. My hand was trembling. "Hey mom... hey dad... long time no see, huh..."
The air was knocked out of my lungs by two pairs of arms throwing themselves around me. They embraced me. I couldn't hold back anymore. I hugged them back unable to match the vigor they were showing themselves. I felt weak compared to them. "I have so many things to tell you, I just didn't know how..."
"Nonsense! I can't believe you're alive! My boy is alive!" Mom held my cheeks looking me all over as if she couldn't believe it was me.
"Do you have any idea how worried you made us, son? How much we've prayed for your return?"
"I wanted to see you again too, dad. There was just so much I..."
"I don't want to hear it! What's been done is done." He cried out with tears in his eyes, pulling me into a fatherly hug followed by hearty slaps on the back. "Oh, I've missed you so much, my boy!"
Mom joined in right after, making for a tight squeeze of a family hug. "Me too dad, I missed you both too. And now that you're here, I'll make sure you get everything you need. It may be an underground tomb, but we're trying to provide what we can for everybody here."
As if only now coming back to reality, my parents took a step back from me and started looking around in awe.
"Speaking of which... how has something like this existed for so long without us even knowing about it. We were certain nobody has lived in this desert for decades." Mother asked curiously.
"It's much older than that. This place is several ages old. It's only now that we've been rebuilding it to what it once was that humans have even been allowed to come in here."
"And those creatures?" Father added in a hushed tone.
"All manners of monsters. They built and ruled in here far away from the cities. That's why they couldn't show themselves to the outside world. You know they would've been hunted down or handed over to the church."
"So why are they letting us in now?"
"We need people. If we didn't bring them here, this place would have crumbled to dust. Its fueled by the people who inhabit it and who follow the Pharaoh. The more followers, the stronger we get."
"But why bring us in? We can't work anymore and I fear we can't contribute much to these people either."
"It's not about age or physical ability. Our people can't keep suffering under some entitled dictator. So we offered them a way to get away from that. Those who can help, are appreciated but for me at least it's enough that they have a home where they aren't considered disposable. Like the way Tutem thinks about you."
Mom touched my cheek with her bony hand as she looked up at me. I couldn't tell if her tears were those of joy or sorrow from having missed so much time with me. "You've changed a lot, haven't you? Whatever it was that caused this, I'm more glad than anything that it happened."
I bashfully smirked as I scratched my neck and raised my shoulders. "Well, wish I could take credit for that but as much as I'd like to say I changed like this on my own... it's actually been thanks to these two." I pointed at the two girls behind me, both jerking up from being mentioned.
"Me?!" "Me?!"
"Of course you. I wouldn't have gotten anywhere near where I am at today if it wasn't for them. Karima was kind to me even when I didn't deserve it and Fatima showed me that there were things worth protecting even if they're not your own. Above anything else, I owe my new life to them."
Both of them started blushing bashfully as my parents approached them. Mother was the first to adress them. "So, as my son introduced you so flatteringly, I'd like to know who's who so I can thank you individually."
Karima stiffly bowed and wrung out a waterfall of words. "I...I'm Karima, mam. I umm... I'm sorry for not having introduced myself yet, I'm... not that good with outsiders yet apart from Shaiq."
"Oh that's fi..."
"But I want you to know that I am very honored to have you here and if you should need anything, the Pharaoh can and will provide you. Her Highness is very resourceful and kind and you will definitely feel right at home in... our home. Our home is your home is what I meant to say. Uh... uuummm..."
Just in the right moment, Fatima tapped her on the shoulder and stopped her. "It's alright, Karima. I think they feel welcome already."
"You think so?"
"We sure do, sweetheart. And we really appreciate you taking care of our boy. We know he can be a handful sometimes but he's got a good heart deep down." She said, clasping Karima's paws with her hands.
"I know, mam. He's proven that plenty already. He's made it up to us several fold."
Mom nodded and patted her hand before turning to her sister. "And you must be Fatima. I assume you two are..."
"Sisters, yes mam. Twins actually."
"You seem to have yourself together quite well. Keep my boy in check, okay? He's always been a bit of a troublemaker."
"Oh trust me, we've noticed that as well." She answered with an embarrassed laugh. "But you don't need to worry. Even if he can be pretty... abrasive, he's been very resourceful and of great help to our people. If anything, I believe he's a better man than many others can claim to be. He's been doing right by us, I assure you."
"And she's well-spoken too. My, my you really complete each other. You two are both such lovely young things." Mom then turned over to me with a hushed whisper in a tone like only a mother playing match-maker could replicate. "Call it motherly intuition but I think these girls really seem to like you. Better snatch one of them up before someone else gets to them first."
I awkwardly scratched my cheek. "Yeah... about that. You won't have to worry about that."
"Oh? Well in that case I'm very happy for you, Shaiq. So who of them is the lucky girl?" She asked, switching between looking at Karima and Fatima.
I got in front of them, taking the pressure off as they grew increasingly red in the face. "It's... both of them."
"Both?!" My parents simultaneously asked in shock. My mother continued worriedly. "My boy, you can't just play with a girl's heart like this."
"I'm not. I never would. But Karima and Fatima... they both changed my life. It wouldn't have a purpose if it weren't for them. I care about both of them more than I do myself. So much so that I can't imagine picking one of them over the other. We've about this already and I promised them that I would love each of them equally as much. And I am going to keep that promise. I want to be happy and I want to make THEM happy."
They were just stunned into silence, not sure what to do with themselves. Dad just sighed as he gave in to this weird scenario and asked the girls straight out. "You are okay with this then? Is he making you both happy?"
